Harry Potter and the War of Magic
by H2P2
Summary: The war against Voldemort has begun. Voldemort has not lost any time hesitating. He has built an army the like of which the Ministry of Magic has never fought before. Harry Potter hides his grief for Sirius, and instead, he begins to plan his revenge. R
1. Prologue

A.N. This is my biggest fanfiction ever. I have already spent nearly a year on this, and I look forward to hearing feedback! Aka… REVIEW!!!

Disclamer: I don't own Harry Potter. 'Nough said.

A long, black cobra slithered through the concealed doorway that led to the meeting room. Yes, they were all there. Suddenly, a man appeared right where the snake had been. But it was almost impossible to describe this thing as a man. Humanoid snake would be a better description. He had red eyes that roamed the room restlessly. His black, thin cloak, created from bat wings, covered a gray, powerfully-built body. He had no ears and very small slits for nostrils; however, any person who knew Lord Voldemort knew that his appearance meant nothing. Voldemort was said to be the most powerful dark wizard ever. His skill in the ancient dark magic arts was beyond anyone except Drema, the creator of the dark arts.

Voldemort strode quickly to the table in the middle of the room. The dark, cold room was dimly lit with weak torches shadowing the pale, stone walls. There were only two entrances to the room. One to the left and one on the north end, which Voldemort had just entered. Twenty people were present in the room. They all crouched in hard, wooden chairs that creaked ominously. Voldemort sat at the head of the table. He hissed, "What are your reports?"

One of the men stood up. He bowed and then said, "I have good news, My Lord. The last of the dementers have joined us along with the giants and trolls. It was easy to convince those stupid oafs. Just promise them gifts, then kill them when their use has worn down. The werewolves agree to join us as well. Your inferi have been revived, and the manticores and nundus are now under our control.

The nineteen other men each stood up and gave their reports on the search for Harry Potter, the plans of the Ministry, the recruitment of more death eaters, and various other important information.

Finally, Voldemort rose and said, " You have done well. Our army is growing quickly. How large is it?"

Immediately, the first man leaped to his feet and proudly replied, "Over 10,000 creatures and humans are armed and prepared to die for you."

Voldemort smirked, "Soon the world will be mine, but I am not happy yet. I want Harry Potter dead."

"My Lord, our spies and dementors are searching all of England. It will not be long before he is found."

Without another word, Voldemort turned and left the room. The men sighed in relief. They had gone through a whole meeting without any of them being tortured by the cruciatus curse. Voldemort must be in a very good mood today. They quickly stood up and exited the meeting room.

Voldemort strode toward his private living quarters. Now that the world realized he was back, he planned to attack with everything he had. Once in his luxurious room, he stared out the window, gazing at his fortress with a grim smile. His stronghold was impenetrable. It was set on a large, unplottable island. His death eaters had built the enormous fortress during his first conquest of power. It was big enough to house his entire army and leave room for storage of food, water, and weapons. Voldemort was coming. The world just didn't know when or where he would strike.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't Harry Potter. DUH!!!

Harry Potter lay asleep in his bed in Number 4 Privet Drive. His aunt and uncle completely ignored him except at mealtimes. For some unknown reason to Harry, they usually gave him about the same amount of food as Dudley. This shocked both Harry and Dudley. Their reactions, however, were quite different. Dudley threw a fit and nearly smashed Harry's face in. Harry just barely missed being hit by that fat, yet powerful, fist. Aunt Petunia made Dudley stop and actually scolded him. He silently thanked Moody, Mr. Weasley, and Tonks for getting these idiots to actually be able to live with.

On this particular day (7-20-96), Harry awoke at 6:30 AM and quickly dressed. It was time for his morning jog. His movement woke up Hedwig, who gave a quiet hoot.

Harry pressed a finger to his mouth. Even though the Dursleys were giving him cool politeness, he did not wish to push his luck. He quietly opened Hedwig's cage and she immediately flew out the window. Harry smiled. Seeing Hedwig fly around reminded him of flying on his broomstick.

He tiptoed down the stairs and unlocked the front door, while breathing in the crisp morning air. "It's a beautiful morning," he said to himself. Then, he ran down the front steps and began his early morning jog.

Ever since the death of Sirius, Harry had sat in his room thinking. The thoughts were not happy ones. With the prophecy yet to be fulfilled, he exercised both physically and mentally. He jogged, did pushups, and various other training to be prepared for any physical attack. Slowly, his slim build began to grow more muscular. He was also growing like a weed. He practiced all the Occlumency exercises that Snape had shown him the previous year. He vented all his anger and grief into his work. He continued researching many offensive and defensive spells from all his schoolbooks. Two days into the summer, he received a letter from the ministry that permitted him to perform magic during the summer. Sirius, his parents, Cedric, Neville's parents, all the people that were killed or tortured by Voldemort and his followers would be avenged. He did not cry. He did not scream. He did not grieve. He just trained. Harry knew that Voldemort was coming, and when he did, Tom was going to die a slow, painful death. This Harry Potter vowed.

It was 7:30 when Harry arrived back at Privet Drive. He was hot, sweaty, and hungry. He walked into the bathroom and took a shower. When he went downstairs to eat, he saw that the Dursleys were already sitting at the table. Uncle Vernon had his nose in the newspaper as usual, Aunt Petunia was making more bacon, and Dudley sat glaring at the television (his favorite pastime). Dudley lost about 20 pounds, and Petunia stopped his diet. Still, Dudley was exceptionally fat, but a little tougher from all the boxing practice.

"Well, at least no more grapefruit slices," Harry thought as he sat down.

Harry ate quickly, thanked Aunt Petunia (she stiffened when this happened), and walked out of the house again. It was blooming hot outside, and it was only 8:00. Harry strolled up the road to the park. The park was repaired from Dudley's destruction and had a few families sitting around the playground watching their little children running around. Harry avoided everybody and kept walking till he arrived at the park's new fishing pond. He hated most of the people in the park. They still thought he was a criminal and a useless freak. Harry had no friends in this stupid neighborhood. He was an outsider. Harry found the bench that he always sat in and sat staring at the water in the pond.

He sighed, "I wish my real friends were here. I have nobody to talk to."

Suddenly, there was a cry. Harry leaped to his feet and drew his wand. "Let it be death eaters. I would love to practice magical dueling." He ran toward the noise.

When Harry arrived, he saw that in a field about 20 yards away from the empty pavilion several boys were beating up somebody. He instantly identified the attackers. Dudley and his gang of lowlifes were beating up another of their victims. Harry stared for three seconds; then he let out a roar, "You hit that guy one more time, and I will kill you."

Dudley and his friends laughed and walked towards him. Harry stood his ground. "Time to see if those exercises worked."

"Get him!" cried Dudley. They suddenly pelted toward him like four football players trying to smash the defense through pure violence.

Harry suddenly leapt out of the way, rolled and jumped back up. He grabbed a large rock that lay nearby. He threw it at Dummy1. It hit him squarely in the chest, completely winding him. "One down, three to go" thought Harry. He picked up another smoother rock, and instead of throwing it, he ran straight to Dudley and began to continuously pound him with the rock. From a shout from a fleeing Dudley, the rest of the gang ran as fast as they could away from Harry and his rock of pain.

Harry wanted to chase them. He wanted to break their filthy necks. But he did not. He turned and ran to the kid who they were beating. He was trembling face down on the ground. Harry fell on his knees and said softly, "It's okay; they are gone."

Whoever it was, he didn't even respond. Harry looked sadly at him. Suddenly, he noticed that this kid was about his age and had long hair. It was not a he; it was a she! When this information sunk into his brain, his blood began to boil again. Those bastards! They were now hurting teenage girls! He secretly swore to kill Dudley when he got home. He lifted her head. She stopped trembling and stiffened slightly.

"It is okay." Harry repeated " I am a friend, not one of those creeps."

"Thank you," she said, and she fainted.

Harry sat there stunned. What the heck was Dudley thinking? Who was this girl? What did she do to Dudley and his gang? As he thought, the girl finally woke up and sat up. She tried to stand, but all she could do was get on her knees and yelp when she tried to straighten up. Harry immediately went to her.

"Are you badly hurt?" he asked

"Well, aside from I can't stand, my throbbing head, and my gut hurting, I feel great" she replied.

"Do I sense sarcasm?"

"Perhaps."

She tried to stand again and fell. Harry caught her and helped her to sit back down. He nervously looked around. If anybody found them, he was dead. He felt her legs for broken bones. Everything looked all right except her ankles. They were probably sprained.

"Did they sprain your ankles?"

" Yes," she snapped.

"We need to bind your ankles. I'll be right back," he said.

Harry ran out of the field and darted up the road to Privet Drive. He entered the kitchen. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley (with a brilliant black eye) were sitting at the table.

Uncle Vernon roared, "Boy get in here!"

"No, Dudley beat up a girl and I need to get her some help!" he shouted as he rummaged in a drawer. He found the first aid kit, and before anybody could stop him, he raced out the door again.

He found the girl still sitting there in the field with a look of severe pain in her eyes. She snapped her head up when she saw him approaching. She quickly turned away. Harry could tell that she was embarrassed, but for what reason, he was not sure. He worked patiently on her ankle. He was used to treating sprains because of all the sprains he got from exercising. When he was done, she managed to stand up with his help. She began to limp away, when Harry asked, "Who are you."

The girl turned around and said, "Aranea." She then limped away.

Harry did not follow her. He was a sensitive person and knew when people wanted to be alone. He slowly strolled down the road in the other direction. It was 1:00, and he was hungry. He decided to brave entering the Dursley's house to get something to eat.

A.N. I hope you enjoyed this. Please Review! It means a lot to me!


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I think this means that I don't own any of these characters, which is true. They all belong to the great JK Rowling

Harry wandered through the momentarily deserted house at Number 4, Privet Drive, taking special care to avoid the Dursleys' bedrooms. He was overwhelmed with boredom, but even that would never make him reckless enough to ignore the Dursleys' rules about where in the house he was allowed to go. After a few more minutes of uninterested meandering, he shrugged his shoulders and went into the kitchen to find something edible. He decided a PB&J sandwich would tide him over for the time being, so he fixed one quickly before plopping down in front of the TV. He began watching an American Muggle cartoon show called Spongebob Squarepants, but he barely paid attention to what the characters were doing. His thoughts were on Aranea. Who was she? Where did she live? God was she ever cute!

"Well, at least she's okay," he muttered to himself.

With that, he put the girl out of his mind and headed up to his room, where he was suddenly attacked by a tiny, feathery tennis ball. "Pig! You little wacko!" he laughed. He reached out his hand and grabbed the hyperactive owl without any trouble; his reflexes were astounding from all the Quidditch training he had gotten at Hogwarts. Pig dropped a letter into Harry's hand and zoomed off with a cheerful hoot, ignoring Hedwig's amazingly good look of disgust. Harry opened the envelope, and two papers fell out. One was a letter from Ron and Hermione, though the messy handwriting made it clear which one of them had actually written it. Harry looked carefully at the writing on the other letter; it was unfamiliar. Who else would have wanted to write to him? He glanced at the signature.

"What is Ginny writing to me for?" he mused, opening the letter from Ron and Hermione.

Hiya Harry!!

What's up mate? Sorry for not writing earlier. We are all at the house—you should see it now! It looks really nice. Hermione's here with me while I'm writing, and we're planning to get you out of that rat hole around your birthday.

The Order is still having a lot of problems finding You-Know-Who. Even our least favourite adult at Hogwarts can't get any info about him. I won't go into much detail until you arrive. Anyway, how are those Muggles treating you? They'd better be nice to you, or Mum says that she'll jinx them to pieces with some very, shall we say, interesting spells. Makes for some interesting thoughts, doesn't it? Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Ginny wrote to you too. Her letter should be in here.

See you soon!

Ron and Hermione

Harry smiled. At least he would be able to celebrate his birthday with his friends and his real family. He then opened Ginny's letter.

Hey Harry! Headquarters looks a lot better than the last time you saw it. Ron and Hermione probably told you everything else.

I need a huge favour. Two of my schoolbooks are in pieces and useless. I don't want to ask my parents for replacement money, and I am broke. I spent too much money on a new broomstick. I have about 4 knuts. Really pathetic, isn't it? If you could help me, I swear I will pay you back when I have enough money, though it might take a while. Please think about it!

Ginny

Harry smirked and went to his desk to reply, enclosing 5 galleons in Ginny's envelope that he assured her she did not need to pay back. He added the finishing touches to Ron and Hermione's letter, casually mentioning Aranea, then tied both letters securely to Hedwig's legs.

Harry watched her take off and fly away until she was no longer visible, then went to his desk and began working on a school report about nundus. He shivered as he read about the toxic, leopard-like creatures. "Geez, they've got to be the most dangerous creature ever born," he thought. "I hope I never meet one."

While Harry was occupied with his report, a tall, cloaked figure approached the street, a voluminous hood hiding its face. Ordinarily, this alone would have been unusual for Privet Drive, as the neighbours frowned upon anyone who dressed strangely, but the truly remarkable thing about this figure was that it simply glided about a foot above the ground. It was, of course, a Dementor, but it was not an ordinary Dementor. It was Firdenmor the Caller.

Firdenmor was famous for being the most vicious Dementor ever bred by the Dark Arts. His age was unknown, but wizard history first told of him almost 2000 years ago, and that his creator was none other than the father of all Dementors: Drema.

True to his sinister nature, Firdenmor had joined the Dark Lord during his first reign of terror. When Voldemort fell, Firdenmor had fled to Mongolia, where he remained until he heard his old master calling for him to return. Now he was back and was the general of the Dementors in Voldemort's army. His squadron's first assignment: find Potter and either Kiss him or bring him to the island stronghold of Voldemort. Firdenmor and his Dementor soldiers had searched high and low, and finally their long search paid off.

Firdenmor had found Harry Potter.

Harry had just finished up his essay on nundus and was setting the parchment on the end of his desk to dry, when he suddenly felt very cold. He shivered as the sunny, warm air became dark and dreary; the sky clouded over, and the bushes and hedges appeared to have grown frost. Harry knew what it meant: a Dementor was on Privet Drive.

He did not hesitate. He pulled out his wand, prepared a happy memory, and crept to the window, peering cautiously through the curtains. A tall, robed figure was hovering in the middle of the road.

"It's a Dementor all right," Harry thought to himself.

Then, to his absolute astonishment, the Dementor began to speak, if the gurgling noise that issued from its mouth could be called speech. For a moment Harry stood dumbfounded, but then realised that the Dementors must have some form of language, the way they worked together as a flawless team.

A team? Harry shivered. If that Dementor called in reinforcements, Harry was finished. He only had three options: attack, hide, or run. Those weren't very good choices, in Harry's opinion, but that was all he could manage to come up with at the moment. He peered through the window again, hoping it would give him a desperate stroke of inspiration, and saw that someone with long hair and a noticeable limp was hurrying up the road.

"Aranea!" Harry called through the open window. "Run!"

The Dementor slowly turned toward Harry's voice, raising its arm and gurgling something. A jet of bright light erupted from the Dementor's hidden hand and smashed into the window. Harry ducked just in time, but the window was not so lucky; it seemed to melt and fade away.

Harry kicked open his trunk, grabbed his Firebolt, and, still holding his wand, jumped out of the remains of the window. Most people, even fully grown wizards, would consider this a rather stupid thing to do, but Harry was a brilliant flier. He pulled out of his short dive just inches from the ground and flew at top speed towards the frozen form of Aranea, who could barely move because of the effects of the Dementor. Harry heaved her onto his broom and attempted to get her away, so he could fight this mysterious Dementor one-on-one.

Firdenmor fired his bright light again; this time, it hit the broom and part of Harry's lower back. The broom bucked like a mad horse, throwing Harry and Aranea to the ground, and burst into flames. Harry staggered to his feet, and his back exploded in severe pain. Firdenmor glided quickly towards him. Barely managing to stand, Harry drew his wand and screamed, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!"

A huge stag erupted from his wand and attacked the Dementor, but Firdenmor grabbed the silvery stag with both hands and the Patronus vanished. Harry gasped. Never had a single Dementor destroyed his stag Patronus with one stroke.

The Dementor suddenly began screeching. Harry's mind was fogging over, but he knew that the Dementor was laughing. Harry was quickly running out of options, and it didn't help that he began to hear his mum's screaming in his head.

"What am I going to do?" he thought frantically.

"Fight," answered another voice in his head.

He struggled to his feet. His mind was still foggy, but the screaming had lessened. The Dementor was nearly upon him by the time he raised his wand. Without thinking, he drove the wand deep into Firdenmor's cloak and again shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

Firdenmor shrieked in pain as he turned and fled. He was in shock. Nobody before had ever driven him away, let alone wounded him, but this boy had severely injured his stomach. White forms began to escape the Dementor through the hole that the Patronous had made. The souls of the hundreds of people he had Kissed throughout his long life were finally free.

The Dementor turned and said, in a coldly accented form of common speech, "We'll meet again, Potter," before it vanished.

Harry stared at what he had done. The Dementor was gone…he had won. "That Dementor could talk; I don't care how much of an accent it had, it talked," he thought. It was the last thing he remembered before the strain of the Dementor's attack and the Patronus Charm sapped his remaining strength, and he collapsed.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

Harry opened his eyes slowly. His back hurt again and he could not see a thing. 'Great. A dark room. How intimidating,' he thought sarcastically to himself as he remembered what had happened. He guessed that someone had found him, and since the neighbors were pretty much his enemies, he felt he should have expected this.

He got up and unsuccessfully tried to adjust his eyes to the light. After feeling around until his hands found a wall, Harry continued to grope in the darkness until he felt a doorknob. He tried to turn it, but it was locked. After a moment of thought, he reached for his wand—miraculously, he found it safe and secure in his pocket—and tapped the door, muttering "Alohomora." The lock clicked, and he opened the door slowly. A hint of light shone from somewhere above him.

"I must be in a basement or something," he guessed. He found a staircase and quietly tiptoed up to find another door at the top. This one opened easily, and Harry blinked as he faced the brighter light of a huge kitchen. Nobody was in the room. Listening carefully the whole time, he moved to a similarly empty living room.

"Maybe the people who live here are gone," he said to himself.

"Oh no, not everybody," said a familiar voice.

"Hello, Aranea." Harry said as he turned round to face her. Both of her ankles were bound and bandaged to help the sprains, and she was still a little pale. Despite this, she was smiling, and her eyes twinkled brightly.

"How did you unlock the door?" she asked.

"I know a few ways to pick a lock," he said with a grin.

"Well then, now that you're out, I can thank you properly."

"For what?" he asked.

"For saving me from that chubby kid, his gang of morons, and that dementor."

Harry gasped. "You're a witch?"

"Yup," she said.

"Do you go to Hogwarts?" he said suspiciously.

"Yes, but I'm in Slytherin," she answered.

Harry gaped at her in shock. Here was an extremely pretty witch who was willing to talk to him even though she was in Slytherin—he had good reason to be suspicious. He gripped his wand tightly at his side.

"Why are you here and why did you lock me in a basement earlier?" he snapped.

"Because the neighbours heard the shouting and the explosion and were coming out of their houses—I've heard what they say about you. Apparently, they think you're a little criminal and go to some delinquent school. They didn't look very happy. My parents hid you in case the police went looking for you or something. As for why I am here, my parents had to move us because their jobs were transferred.

"Oh," Harry said. He was rather stunned by such an honest-sounding answer. Then he realized there was a flaw in her story.

"How did you get me to your house before the neighbours got to me?"

Aranea glanced out the window and whispered, "My mum has a phoenix. He was invisible to the muggles, so he took us out of there by way of his flame apparation gift. I bet those muggles were quite surprised when you weren't there."

Harry quickly responded, "Show me your mum's phoenix if you can."

Almost immediately a phoenix appeared in a flash of fire. It landed on Aranea's shoulder and stared at Harry with great interest. For a moment, Harry was shocked, but he quickly hid his amazement. After a few seconds, the phoenix vanished.

Aranea smirked and said, "I believe you are wondering why I, a Slytherin, am helping Harry Potter of Gryffindor."

"Crossed my mind," Harry admitted.

"Well…I'm not like the rest of the Slytherins. I hate the Dark Arts, and because of that, I'm an outcast. I'm on Dumbledore's side, not You-Know-Who's."

Harry stood stunned. This was a rare moment and a rare chance. To befriend a Slytherin was unheard of in Gryffindor, but he could not help but feel pity for this girl; she was an outcast because of her ideals. Finally he found his voice again.

"Well, you are different from nearly every other Slytherin. Dumbledore'll be delighted to have at least one Slytherin on our side."

Aranea smiled. "I would love to have a real chance at Hogwarts. I've never had friends from any of the houses."

"What year are you at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Coming into sixth year, just like you."

"Great," said Harry with a grin.

They chatted for several minutes. Suddenly a door slammed and a voice shouted, "Aranea, we're home from the hospital with the potion for your ankles!"

Aranea called back, "In the living room, Mum. Harry Potter is awake."

A small, thin woman appeared in the doorway, quickly followed by a tall, beefy man (though not as big as Uncle Vernon). Aranea's mother wore an incredible amount of jewelery, but Harry could sense a humbleness about her that did not match her looks. Her husband was exchanging some muggle spectacles for some strange glasses that had switches and dials on the thick ear holders; he also wore a watch that seemed oddly familiar to Harry, though he could not think where he had seen them before.

Aranea's father stretched out his hand, and Harry took it. The other man smiled, but he did not break the relative silence.

Aranea's mother spoke first. "So, you are Harry Potter." She noticed his scared look and quickly added, "Don't worry; your secret is safe with us."

"Thanks," said a still very surprised Harry. He checked his watch and gasped. It was nearly 7:00; he had to get home before he got into even more trouble.

Aranea saw his face and said, "I'll walk you home."

They left together and hurried down to Privet Drive, stopping at the Dursleys' house. After a hasty goodbye, they parted, and Harry walked up the steps. Just as he was about to open the door, it burst open, and he was roughly grabbed by Uncle Vernon and dragged to the kitchen.

Aunt Petunia and Dudley were sitting at the table each wearing equally furious expressions. Harry gulped. This was not going to turn out well. Uncle Vernon roughly pushed Harry into a chair and shouted, "You're finished! I don't care what those freak friends of yours say. I want you to pack your trunk and leave immediately! Go anywhere you want. I don't care if Whatever-His-Name-Is kills you or not, and that deal Petunia made is off!"

Uncle Vernon turned around and gave Harry an evil grin. He grabbed Harry again and pushed him to his room.

"I feel pity on you. If I tell my friends, you are going to be hexed into oblivion," said Harry.

"That is why I threw your stupid owl out of the house," Uncle Vernon replied.

They reached Harry's room; Harry waved his wand and dumped everything he owned into his trunk. After he was done, Uncle Vernon forced Harry downstairs and threw him bodily out the door. It slammed shut, and Harry could hear a click—it was locked. Harry stood up and began to walk away from Number 4.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Harry… isn't mine.

Harry walked along the familiar street until the land became pitch black, and he could barely see. The houses on all sides had no lights on. The young wizard dug inside his pocket. He sighed in relief. His wand was still tucked safely inside of his enormous jeans. "This is one of the very few times that I appreciate having Dudley's old clothes. They've got enormous pockets."

He drew his wand and muttered, "Lumos." The wand tip created a small amount of light, as he continued walking, dragging his trunk behind him. Eventually, his destination came into his sight: a large field of grass that was created to become another park, but contractors ran out of money. "Wathme," he said while he pointed his wand at himself. Immediately, warmth spread along his body. He laid down, closed his eyes, and instantly fell asleep.

A loud beeping noise awoke Harry early the next morning. He slowly opened his eyes and stretched. "Damn car horns," he muttered sleepily. Yawning, Harry shrunk his truck to pocket-sized and started to walk away from the neighborhood that had been so horrible for 16 years. He was so deep in thought that he did not pay attention to his surroundings, and he bumped into someone. It was Aranea.

"I heard the news," she said.

"Yeah. I'm just waiting for Hedwig. If I'm lucky, I might be out of here tomorrow. I just have to leave and find someplace to stay at until she comes." He replied.

Aranea smiled and said, "So that's the owl that is staying at our house. Let's get that message out to your friends."

Harry laughed in relief and agreed. He also noticed that her ankles had been magically healed. They strolled together down the street together laughing and chatting about various topics when suddenly their way was blocked. Dudley and his gang stood in front of them barring the way. They tried to go around them but they were stopped again. Finally, Harry spoke, "Well what do you want?"

Dudley replied, "We're going to teach you both a lesson. Nobody hurts or insults me or my gang and gets away unharmed."

"Till now," Harry said. He instantly stooped and yanked each of Dudley's fat legs, till Dudley fell with a loud booming noise. They bolted with the rest of Dudley's gang at their heels. The Harry Hunt had begun!

As Dudley's gang chased Harry and Aranea, another pair of eyes gazed at the scene from a dark alley. They narrowed and suddenly vanished. The quiet tap of feet could be heard following the chase, but there was no figure that could be seen.

Aranea and Harry kept running. Their sides were killing them, they were slowing down, but still, they ran on. The gang was also getting tired but at a faster rate. They attempted one last effort to catch their prey, failed, and collapsed on the ground breathing hard. The prey turned a corner and vanished from their view. Dudley caught up with his gang, and they all cursed Harry and Aranea as they walked away looking for slower and weaker prey.

After Harry and Aranea turned the corner, looked back, and saw nothing, they stopped for a breather. Then, they proceeded on slowly, so their side aches would not act up again. Then, a sudden shout and exploding sound erupted from behind them. Harry immediately ducked, grabbing Aranea along the way down. A slash of purple light passed over them. Harry instantly recognized it. It was the spell that had hit Hermione in the battle within the Department of Mystery. He drew his wand and turned to face whoever it was that was attacking. There stood the tall, dark figure that had been watching from the alley. It was hooded and cloaked, but Harry could see glistening eyes within the hood. Aranea meanwhile had drawn her wand but did not use it. Harry was the only one could do magic outside of school. She was going to use her wand only if Harry could not defeat whoever this was.

Harry jumped in front of Aranea and shot a binding charm. His attacker managed to duck only just in time. The Death Eater fired another spell with a blue light. He was a lousy shooter and missed Harry by a foot. The fence that was hit burst into blue flames. It was the fire spell that Hermione perfected in their first year. He shouted, "Stupefy!"

The figure was hit in the arm with the spell and fell. Harry fired a full body-bind spell again. The person's limbs snapped against his body, and his mouth closed. Aranea let out a breath of relief. The students of Hogwarts, particularly the Gryffindors, said that Harry was a skilled wizard. _They were right_ she thought to herself.

Harry pulled off the person's hood and glared down at the Death Eater. It was Dolohov. He was the Death Eater that nearly killed Hermione during the battle in the Department of Mysteries. He must have escaped Azkaban. Harry gave the evil man a cold smile. Then, he whispered, "I haven't forgotten what you did to my friend. You'll pay. But not today. Your time will come later."

Harry straightened up. "Shall we proceed back to your house?" We'll leave this man right here. Maybe the muggles will send him to their jail if they find him. For now, I suggest we keep moving and get to your house as quickly as possible. Aranea agreed and after Harry had repaired the burnt fence, they sprinted to her house. When they arrived, her mother was waiting for them with Hedwig and a piece of parchment. Harry grabbed the parchment and quickly scribbled a letter to both his friends and the ministry.

Upon finishing, Harry turned to Aranea and asked, "I need your mum's phoenix to flash this letter to the ministry. Hedwig can take the other to Ron."

Aranea nodded and called, "Eutimmo! We need you!"

Immediately, the phoenix flashed into the room with a burst of flame. Aranea gave him the letter, and he left again. Meanwhile, Harry gave Hedwig the other letter, and she took off at top speed. Soon, she was lost from view.

Harry turned away from the window and looked around at Aranea and her family. "Now, Aranea, I need you to wait here. The ministry should be here shortly. I will go back and keep an eye on the death eater. He turned to Aranea's mother and father; "Please stay with Aranea. I don't know if there are more Death Eaters here. If anybody attacks, run." They all nodded.

Harry then left and quickly walked back to where his prisoner lay. Dolohov struggled uselessly. Fortunately for Harry, nobody had walked or drove past where he was lying. Just to be safe, Harry roughly dragged him to a nearby, parked car and hid the death eater under it. He stood guard over the struggling death eater.

After about twenty minutes, the ministry aurors arrived. Tonks, Kingsley, and two aurors that Harry didn't know ran quickly up the street pathetically dressed in muggle clothes. Kingsley and one of the unknown aurors grabbed the tied up death eater and apparated back to the ministry. Tonks smirked and said, "Well Harry, another death eater caught personally by you."

Harry laughed but soon stopped and replied, "Yeah. But I've got another problem. The Dursleys haven't really believed your threat and have thrown me out of the house. Can you get Dumbledore and tell him to get my friends to pick me up? I have sent them a letter already, but I don't know the exact distance to the Burrow."

Tonks frowned, "Why did they kick you out?"

Harry told her about the dementor, the battle, and the destroyed window. Tonks whistled and said, "A dementor that can attack with a jet of light, destroy a very powerful patronus, and speak? This is very strange. I have heard rumor of one such dementor. His name is Firdenmor the Caller." She shivered. Apparently, he also scared the magical community but not as much as Voldemort.

Harry also said, "I have also discovered a way to hurt a dementor instead of just driving them away. You have to stick your wand into their cloak directly and perform the patronus charm. It also freed all the souls that were imprisoned in the dementor."

Tonks stared at Harry in shock, "I must report this to the ministry and Dumbledore. This might turn the tides on the attacks done by the dementors. If we can perfect this, we may find a way to kill them." She apparated along with the remaining auror, who had remained silent the whole time.

Problem solved and the day saved again, Harry walked happily back to Aranea's house. When he arrived, Aranea and her family were sitting in the living room, staring at the fire. They all looked up and smiled when Harry came in. Aranea handed him a roll of parchment. Harry glanced at the messy handwriting before tearing it open. Obviously, it was from Ron.

We're coming to pick you up immediately. Expect us to arrive in the fireplace of the wizard's house that you mentioned. Aranea's house I think you called it. See you soon, Ron.

Harry jumped for joy and headed to the fireplace. Aranea's mother smirked at Harry. "I hope you have fun at your friend's house"

Harry looked at Aranea, turned to her mum, and said, "Can Aranea come too? I would love for my friends to meet her."

Aranea looked at her parents hopefully. Her father stood up and pleasantly said, "I know that she would be safe with you Harry." He turned to Aranea and said, "Be prepared to pack if Harry's friends agree."

Aranea nodded. Harry's heart soared. He was going to the Burrow, and Aranea was coming too! Suddenly, the fire turned bright green and out stepped Ron, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley. Ron and Ginny immediately ran to Harry and both gave him a bone-crushing hug. Harry turned to Mr. Weasley and asked, "Would it be alright if my friend, Aranea, joins us at the Burrow?"

"I am sure Molly will welcome Aranea to our house," said Mr. Weasley.

"Great!" Harry said excitedly as Aranea ran up the stairs to her room to pack. "Let's go"

"Oh, we have to talk to the Dursley about you coming back next summer," said Mr. Weasley with quick anger flashing in his eyes, "Dumbledore is losing his patience with them."

Harry and the Weasleys exited the house and strolled to the Dursley's house. When Harry knocked on the door, Uncle Vernon opened it a crack, saw Harry and his friends, and growled like an angry wolf. "Get off my property you freaks!" Mr. Weasley pushed the door open and began to angrily talk to Uncle Vernon. Harry climbed the stairs to his room to make sure that he did not leave anything behind. When he arrived back downstairs (he had accidentally left a few quills and parchment), Ron was warily watching Dudley, who was eyeing his sister with obvious interest. Ginny was just leaning against the wall waiting. Without a word, they left (Ron gave Dudley a rude hand gesture before he left the door), and Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear another familiar click that meant he had locked it again.

"Well, that was polite," muttered Ron sarcastically

Harry smirked, "That's usually what he does to salesmen."

When they arrived back to Aranea's house, they saw that she was waiting by the fire with her trunk and an excited look on her face.

One by one, they stepped into the fire and shouted, "The Burrow!"


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: see last chapter's disclaimer.

Harry fell out of the fireplace and quickly stepped away from it. Seconds later Ron showed up and after him, Ginny. Last of all came Aranea and Mr. Weasley. With a call from Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley appeared from upstairs closely followed by Hermione.

Hermione dashed to Harry and hugged him tightly. "I heard the Dursley didn't follow their orders," she said.

"Yeah, well. They did for a while, but a dementor invaded Privet Drive and destroyed the window in my room with some kind of jet of magic from its hand. It was weird. It could speak English too," Harry replied.

With that, everybody insisted that he tell his story. They all gathered at the kitchen table, and after Mrs. Weasley put a large plate of sandwiches on the table, Harry began telling of his last two adventurous days. He left out a few details, like his conversation with Aranea. When he was done, everybody (except Aranea) sat back and digested this amazing story. Then, the inevitable question arrived, "Who is Aranea?"

Harry answered carefully, "She's a Hogwarts student that moved near Privet Drive a little while ago."

Ron turned to Aranea and asked, "What house are you in?"

"Slytherin," Aranea hesitantly replied.

There was a long silence. Eventually, Ron muttered suspiciously to Harry, "Why are you talking to the slime of Hogwarts? They support You-Know-Who."

Harry replied, "Don't worry about Aranea being a traitor. She tells me that she is an outcast of Slytherin because of her ideals."

"Can you prove that?" Ron asked.

"What will it take for you to believe my story?" she asked.

"Isn't Harry's word good enough?" Hermione interrupted.

Ron looked at Harry and nodded at him while saying, "I trust you Harry."

The Weasleys relaxed. Then, Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley stood up and welcomed her to the Burrow. Mr. Weasley smiled at her. Ron sat in his chair thinking. Harry would never bring a member of their sworn enemies into their house. He looked at Aranea, who was looking anxiously at him, and smiled at her. "Welcome," he said.

Hermione turned the converstion to Harry's battle with the dementor again," So you really hurt a dementor and released the imprisoned souls from within it instead of just driving it away."

Harry nodded. He was getting annoyed with everybody's interest in how he injured the dementor. "It's not that impressive," he muttered.

"No," said Mr. Weasley, "All of the ministries in Europe have searched for ways to kill the dementors because they never die on their own. That is why there are so many in the world. They were created by the dark arts. However, only one was created at first. It was released, and they have been increasing in number ever since. The creator of these foul creatures was said to be Drema, but it has never been proven. Your discovery might change the fate of the war with dementors."

"Who is Drema?" Harry asked.

Hermione answered as if it was the answer to a question in transfiguration. Of course it was well researched and historically accurate. The story was long and was something even History of Magic teacher, Pofessor Binns, barely taught. But Hermione had heard of him, wanted to learn more, and (as everybody knows) turned to books of ancient magical history.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Harry isn't mine!

Drema is the creator of the dark arts. He was born at least 2000 years ago, which was when the wizarding world was just beginning to hide the magical world from muggles and was the time of great research on the effects and creation of magic.

Drema was born to a muggle family. They were peasants in ancient Rome (A.N. not sure if that is the right time period for Rome). They worked extremely hard to make a living by farming on a small patch of land. Their exact location is unknown but it is said to be in what is now Italy. One day, Drema was working alone in the far end of the family's fields. Drema glared down at the wheat he was pulling when suddenly the wheat fell down chopped perfectly. That was the beginning of Drema's learning of the magical world.

Drema continued to perform magic in secret. His father kept wondering why he finished early and did it so perfectly. "Why do you perform your task so well and quickly my son?"

Drema shrugged his shoulders, "I work hard yet carefully in order to be able to enjoy and play the rest of the day."

Of course, his father got suspicious and secretly followed Drema to the fields. He then saw Drema perform magic to cut the grain. His father panicked and confronted him by yelling, "What is this devilry you are performing! You have put a curse on our family!"

That same night Drema's parents threw him out of the house. Drema walked for days looking for work. Born from desperation, Drema continued to perform magic to suit his need. He grew more skillful and discovered that many of his spells were from common words run together. At those times, magic was hard to use because the art was so primitive.

Two months later, Drema was sleeping in the mountains of Italy (he never stayed in one place and traveled a lot) when he heard a rumble. He awoke quickly and quietly headed toward the noise. With luck, it might be something he could kill with magic and eat, like a deer. What he saw surprised him greatly. He was on the edge of a clearing and saw an old man performing magic. He instinctively pulled back, but it was too late. The man had seen him and stretched out his hand and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Accio." Drema was swept off his feet and was pulled to the man.

Drema fought back. He attacked with magic, but the old man dodged everything that was hurled towards him. Drema gave up finally and kneeled down wating for his fate to be determined. The man smiled and soon Drema became an apprentice to the old man. He learned much and quickly became a powerful wizard. He grew so powerful that he began to start creating spells and summoned creatures. He created a new branch of magic: the Dark Arts.

However, Drema began the Dark Arts in the desire to do good, but the magic grew, and one day, something went horribly wrong. Drema cast a new spell that bounced back upon him. The dark magic clouded his mind, and he turned to evil.

From that day on, he created evil creatures and spells. He created the first dementor to do his bidding. The unforgivable curses were his creation. Drema, a simple wizard then grew to become the first and, most likely, the most powerful dark wizard in the history of magic. Eventually, the wizards of light banded together and destroyed Drema. But they were too late. The Dark Arts spread rapidly, and to this day, it has never stopped.

Please reads and review!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, Neville and Luna would be together.

Another long silence ensued after Hermione described the past of Drema. Finally, Harry stirred. "Well," he said, "Voldemort is trying to rival Drema. Who stopped Drema in the end?"

"Merlin," came the reply from Hermione.

"Well, I should get dinner ready," said Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley excused himself muttering something about a bicycle. They left the kids alone at the table.

Ron looked at Aranea, "Can you play quidditch or chess."

Aranea grinned, "Both. Particularly chess."

"Excellent! I challenge you to a chess match."

"I accept." Aranea replied smirking evily.

The kids ran to Ron's room to witness the game. Before Ron could offer Aranea pieces, she pulled out a bag of chess pieces. They looked ancient. Aranea smiled. "They were my great great great grandfather's lucky pieces. Ron grinned and showed her his grandfather's pieces. Then, the game began.

Harry stood on Aranea's side while Hermione was watching Ron. Aranea was brilliant at chess. She blocked all of Ron's moves, but he formed some of his own invented strategies. It was the toughest game each of them had ever played. Finally, Aranea checked Ron, but Ron pulled his last trick. With his last piece (a knight) he eliminated the threatening bishop. Harry and Hermione gasped. Ron had just forced a draw with Aranea.

Ron straightened up and held out his hand, "That was the toughest game of chess I have ever played. Some of those strategies nearly finished me!"

Aranea took his hand, shook it, and said, "Same here! I thought I had you there but I guess not."

Ginny suddenly appeared with Fred and George. They were laughing. "Hey guys! Wanna play some quidditch!"

Everybody said yes except for Hermione and Harry who both had no brooms. Harry's was destroyed on the day of Firdenmor's attack. They agreed to just watch.

Aranea was right. She was incredible at playing keeper and chaser. When Ron asked why she wasn't on the Slytherin team, she responded, "I am a girl. Trust me if I could, I would."

After a lovely meal from Mrs. Weasley, the teenagers talked late into the night. Fred and George had a great time with Aranea. Aranea had more ideas for pranks than even they had. Aranea agreed to share her ideas for joke products if they paid her 2 galleons for every five jokes. They replied, "If you help us become better than Zonkos, we'll give you 20 every time you invent a new prank."

"You're being rather loose with my money," Harry laughed.

A.N. Not much in this chapter, but the action returns soon! I'll try to update this evening.


	9. Chapter 8

Dislcaimer: NO! I won't say it! I won't say that I own Harry Potterr because it's not true! Wait a minute…

Several days had passed. An owl came from the ministry came that said Harry's friends could use partial magic if they would only use small amounts in private or in self-defense. Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys were shocked but didn't argue. They guessed that Dumbledore had something to do with it.

Harry woke slowly He looked around and noticed that Ron was not in bed. He looked at his watch. "6:00 A.M? Ron never gets up until at least nine!" Harry dressed quickly, grabbed his wand, and crept downstairs. He heard nothing.

"I don't like this. It is not my birthday." He heard a creak above him. He whipped around to see Aranea opening the door to Ginny and Hermione's room and peering out. She saw Harry and mouthed, "Where is everybody?"

Harry shrugged and waved his hand. She stepped behind him, with her wand in hand. They crept noiselessly to the kitchen to find it deserted as well. Harry whispered, "You check the bedroom upstairs. I'll look around here." Aranea nodded and tiptoed to the stairs and began climbing up them. Harry turned and slowly stepped into the living room. There was a scrap of parchment on the coffee table. He grabbed it and read quickly

Harry and Aranea,

Arthur and I are at Grimmauld Place cleaning. Fred and George are at their shop. Bill and Charlie are at work. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione heard us rustle downstairs. They had breakfast, and they left for the village. I think they are planning to wander a bit there. There is food on the counter. When you are ready, you can meet up with Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Just follow the road and you'll reach the village. Look for them in the park in the north end. We will see you at dinner.

Sincerely,

Molly

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At that moment, Aranea arrived. He showed her the note and they headed to breakfast. After they had eaten, they grabbed some bottles of water and stepped out the front door. The sun shined brightly and Harry breathed in deeply, "This is one of those days that a guy can have not a care in the world." Aranea nudged him and starting walking down the path. After about twenty minutes, they reached the small town. They followed the now-paved road through the town until they reached the park. Many people were there. All of them were laughing and shouting and playing. Harry smiled at a young boy that ran passed him chasing a football. Aranea and Harry split up to find their friends. Aranea found them sitting in the pavilion playing chess. Harry arrived and soon the group was laughing and having a good time being together. Harry then suggested that they go to the swings. Hermione looked at him questioningly. Harry laughed, " You are never too old for swings."

Suddenly, seven loud cracks could be heard. Harry knew what this meant. Death Eaters. Harry immediately took charge, " Take the Muggles and get them into the bathrooms. When you have them all in there, lock the doors. If any of you have brooms, use them to get back to the Burrow. I'll hold them here. GO!!"

They immediately drew their wands and bolted to the playground. Harry ran in the direction of the cracks to see seven Death Eaters with their wands out. Harry shouted, "Stupefy!" A flash of red light hit the lead Death Eater, and he collapsed. Harry then ducked behind a pole as answering spells shot from the six remaining Death Eaters. Bolting to the jungle-gym he jumped into a tube slide and stuck his feet out to stop him from going all the way down. He could hear shouting and his friends calls to get the Muggles to shelter. He heard the Death Eaters feet crunching toward the slide end. Harry saw a pair of legs at the base. He let go and with all his might smashed into the Death Eater's legs. The man howled in pain, Harry quickly jumped up and ran away from the park. He heard the Death Eaters shout, "Get Potter alive. Forget those Muggles. Get Potter!!"

Suddenly, Harry saw more wizards apparating onto the field that he was on. Among them were Mad Eye Moody and Lupin. With the reinforcements for Harry, the Death Eaters immediately disapparated back to their master. Moody limped over to Harry, "you would make a good Auror Harry. A real good one. Two of the seven Death Eaters were captured and taken into custody "

Harry's friends ran over and reported that the Muggles were safe and that no one was injured. Ginny walked over though and slapped Harry in the face. Not a very heavy slap but enough to show that she was angry. "Harry James Potter! What were you thinking? You could have been hurt!"

Harry smirked at the fiery redhead and replied, " I know, but it sure was a great bit of exercise."

Ron and Aranea laughed with Harry, but Hermione and Ginny glared at him. Finally, Harry said, "Relax already. I am fine and in one piece. Unless you count this chipped piece of fingernail here," he said as he held up his hand.

The girls sighed. Harry was powerful, clever, brave, and now he was a lousy comedian. Great.

A.N. There you go! Chapter 8 is published! Please review! They make my day and make me want to update more often (hint hint).


	10. Chapter 9

A.N. Sorry it took so long to update. Anyway, here is Chapter 9!

Disclamer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry and his friends got back to the Burrow to find Mrs. Weasley sitting in a chair with an anxious look on her face. She sprang to her feet and grabbed Ron and Ginny into one of her famous hugs. She went on into her muttering as she made lunch for them. After they had eaten, Mrs. Weasley said, "If you guys want, we can go to Grimmauld Place and you can walk to Diagon Alley from there."

"But we don't have our Hogwart's letters yet." said Aranea.

As if by clockwork, several owls swooped in with their letters and OWLs. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Aranea all laughed and opened their OWLs eagerly. Harry stared at the grades he received.

Care for Magical Creatures – O 

Transfiguration – E

Potions - E

Astronomy – A

Defense Against the Dark Arts – M

Herbology – O

Divination – T

Charms - O

"Wow!" Ron said, " I have seven OWLs with two O's"

After passing them around, (Hermione got all O's except in Astronomy, which she got an E in) they asked what Aranea got. She handed hers over.

Care for Magical Creatures – E 

Transfiguration – E

Potions - E

Defense Against the Dark Arts – E

Herbology – O

Charms - O

Arithmancy – A Muggle Studies- A 

Astronomy- D

"Good job Aranea!" Harry exclaimed. Aranea blushed. Something she did not do very often.

Suddenly, Hermione gasped, "Harry, you got an M!"

"What is an M mean?" asked a puzzled Ron

"An M is the hardest grade to get. It stands for miraculous. Only two people in Hogwarts history have received an M in anything."

"Who were they?" Aranea asked.

"Dumbledore and Voldemort. Dumbledore was a master at Transfiguration. Voldemort's M class is not known." Hermione replied quietly.

Harry's eyes grew huge with surprise. He just made history. "Great. Just what I need. Another reason to be famous."

"Don't worry Harry. OWL results are confidential. Also, the M means that you get to skip DADA for the rest of your school career, but you have to still do NEWTs to get credit for it."

Harry replied, "I think that I will keep going to DADA anyway."

Then, Ginny spoke, "Well guys, are we going to Diagon Alley or what?"

After pocketing their supplies list, they each took a pinch of floo power and shouted, " Grimmauld Place!"

"Well, the place looks much better than last year." Harry thought as he looked around the room that he had just entered.

Indeed, it did look better. The walls were washed and redecorated. The dusty furniture was clean, and many of the items in the room made the room look more welcoming. Then, Harry was knocked over by a small figure slamming into him. Harry laughed, "Hey Dobby, the house looks great."

"Dobby is glad you are liking it sir. Winky has been helping too," the elf replied.

"Aranea, meet Dobby, the coolest elf I have ever met."

Dobby jumped for joy with his eyes brimming with tears from the compliment that he received from what he thought was the greatest wizard ever. Aranea smiled at Dobby and shook his little hand. The house elf was now stunned. He was being treated like he was a human being instead of a slave.

"Listen Dobby, we are heading to Diagon Alley. Do you want to come? You would need to come invisible so that the Muggles don't see you."

Dobby immediately jumped again and eagerly agreed. The five students and an invisible house elf started heading to the Leaky Cauldron laughing and talking.

When they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Dobby reappeared, and they decided to grab a butterbeer before heading to Diagon Alley. Tom was very pleased to serve them. There were barely any people sitting around and none of them seemed cheerful and relaxed.

Harry looked on sadly. "Voldemort is winning fast."

"How?" Ginny asked, "I don't see anything."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Because people are terrified of him. His tactic of making everyone fear him is working quickly. Look around," he said as he waved around the room, "Do you see many people around. They are too scared to come out of their homes to fight or even LIVE!"

Everybody stared in shock. "Ron, that was amazing." Hermione finally said.

"What?" he asked.

"You just proved that you are able to notice things," Hermione replied with a hint of amusement on her face.

"Gee thanks," Ron replied sarcastically.

Aranea cleared her throat. "Shall we be off?"

"Yup, let's go!" said Ginny.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?" came a hated voice.

"Hello Malfloy," replied Harry without turning around, "Had a good summer?"

"Quite," Malfloy replied.

At that moment, Narcissa entered the pub. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Harry and his friends. Then she saw Dobby. Immediately, she drew her wand and began to say an incantation.

Harry reacted quickly. He jumped over the table and grabbed Dobby just as a flash of light came shooting passed where Dobby was just sitting. Suddenly, screams could be heard outside the pub door. Harry jumped to his feet while drawing his wand. He cast a charm that tied both Draco and his mother in ropes. Then, he called Tom, who ran to the table. "Tom, call the ministry and Dumbledore. Tell them that the Leaky Cauldron is about to be attacked, and we need reinforcement. Hurry!" Harry shouted.

Then without a word he ran out the door closely followed by his friends. There were Death Eaters, over a hundred of them. There were many bodies lying around the ground. Harry saw the body of a young girl. She was not more than eight years old. Muggles were running all over the place. Many were being shot down while running away. Fury and hatred flashed in Harry's eyes and heart. Without a second thought, he charged the Death Eaters. Many of them shot spells at him, but Harry deflected them easily. Firing spell after spell, he smashed into one of the Death Eaters. He lifted the rather small Death Eater bodily off the ground and threw him into the Death Eater's ranks. The Death Eaters laughed and began to surround Harry. Over twenty wands were pointed directly at his heart, with eighty more waiting to take over a place in the front row. Then Harry's friends reacted and began firing spells at the Death Eaters from behind them. Harry looked from side to side and suddenly spun around a full 360 degrees while shouting, "Diffindo!"

The first row immediately fell dead with severed heads or bodies. Harry repeated the process, but this time the Death Eaters were ready and many cast shield charms to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, Aranea, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were busy firing stunning spells as quickly as possible. Dobby had disappeared. Then a flash of red light struck Ginny and she fell to the ground unconscious. Ron ducked down and shouted, "I am getting her to the Leaky Cauldron. Watch our backs." With that he lifted her and ran to the pub.

The few wizards in the Leaky Cauldron were huddled in a corner. Ron shouted, "You cowards! Defend your lives, your home, your world, whatever! Fight back." With that he ran from the room.

When he came out, Harry was still surrounded by Death Eaters. He was wounded in many places, but still, he stood tall and straight with his wand flashing spells so fast that the shield charms of the Death Eaters could not withstand the constant barrage of fire. Aranea and Hermione looked exhausted, but they still fought on as well. Death Eaters were falling left and right.

Then the door to the Leaky Cauldron swung open, and the few wizards that were in the pub began to fight. Two fell immediately, but three more managed to stun five Death Eaters that were sneaking up on Ron. After that the Death Eaters fired back. Two fell wounded, but one fell dead. Then, Aranea was hit with a fire charm and her robes burst into magical flames. Hermione turned and put out the fire, but the Death Eaters saw their chance and shot two spells into Hermione's back. She fell to the ground in a heap.

Then, several more pops could be heard and the Ministry's aurors and many members of the Order attacked the Death Eaters.

Harry was beginning to fall when the reinforcements arrived. One of the Death Eaters, seeing a chance of favor in the eyes of his master, began to fire a Killing Curse. At that moment, Dobby appeared behind him. He released a ball of fire from his hands and fired it into the Death Eater's back. He fell dead with a hole in his chest. Dobby then sprang to Harry's side and began to cast exploding spells into the dwindling ranks of the Death Eaters. Within three minutes, the remaining Death Eaters apparated away.

Dobby immediately began healing Harry's wounds with his elf magic. Harry rose to his feet and looked around. Moody limped over. "Another attack and this time in broad daylight in Muggle London on the same day. This is going to take a lot of memory charms to fix," he said.

Harry nodded and limped to where Ron and Aranea stood. They were helping the aurors figure out the number of dead people. He began to help when healers from Saint Mungos appeared. Soon Ministry obliviators arrived and began the hard process of sorting this mess out.

After over two hours of searching and healing, the number of dead people was discovered. It was not pretty. Harry ground his teeth, "Forty-six Death Eaters, nine wizard, and thirty-seven Muggles are dead. With over one hundred-fifty wounded from all three categories! This is infuriating," he shouted as he slammed his fist into a lopsided street lamp.

Remus walked over and said, "Harry, over twenty of the dead Death Eaters have been cut in some way. I take it you used a cutting hex?"

"Yeah, and they deserved it," Harry growled.

Hermione came over slowly. It was apparent that she was in pain. He hurried over and together with Ron, they led her into the Leaky Cauldron. Ginny had regained conciousness and was sitting at a table with a sad expression on her face.

Harry sat down and began to stare into space. Then suddenly, he heard something faintly. It sounded like a scream. He snapped out of his thought and looked around. The pub was dead quiet.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. His glasses maybe but not him.

A.N. Sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time! Here is the next chapter. More action! PLEASE REVIEW!!

* * *

The next morning, Harry woke early. Ron was still sleeping. "Dang, I wonder how he woke up so early the other day." Harry muttered to himself.

Harry got up, dressed, and went to the stairs and then down to the kitchen. When he arrived, he saw Aranea sitting with a mug of some brown liquid in front of her. She looked up and smiled. "Coffee?" she asked.

"Sure, but I never tried it."

Aranea pulled a small coffee jar from a pocket of her robes and began making coffee.

They talked for over two hours before the Weasley's and Hermione got up.

Hermione walked in sleepily and sat down. She muttered something that sounded a bit like a greeting. Harry and Aranea looked at each other with an equally amused look on their faces. A few minutes later, Hermione raised her head and greeted them in a more audible voice.

Ginny arrived at about 8:30. She began to make some bacon and eggs, when Mrs. Weasley entered. She took over making breakfast and Ginny sat down. Ron was the last to come down. After several helpings of food (in Ron's case, seven), they went to Ron's room and began playing Exploding Snap. It got old after a while and Ginny said, "This room is so thick with boredom, you could cut it with a blunt knife."

"Yeah but what can we do?" Harry asked.

Ron replied, "Quidditch can get real old sometimes."

Everybody looked at Ron with surprise. Ron was actually calling Quidditch old? Unheard of. Ron smirked, "I ain't as dense as I once was."

Then, Hermione said, "You guys do realize that there is homework and research to do?"

They all groaned. Then, Ron said, "Who wants to go to Grimmauld Place? We can try to go to Diagon Alley and maybe have some fun there for a change. Maybe we won't have to save the day again from Death Eaters."

Aranea chuckled, "Oh the joy of being friends with you guys. We need to go get our Hogwarts supplies too."

"And birthday gifts for Harry." Ginny sniggered.

Harry looked back puzzled for a minute until he realized his birthday was in two days. "Sixteen," he thought, "Wow I totally forgot," He said aloud.

After a lot of promises to Mrs, Weasley, they flooed to Grimmauld Place met up with Dobby and started out for Diagon Alley. When they reached the Leaky Cauldron, Tom looked up nervously, but he greeted them warmly when he saw who they were. After a butterbeer, (Harry's treat to his friends) they walked through the barrier to Diagon Alley. The place did not have very many people walking around. "What a change, " Harry thought.

They headed to Gringotts first. However, they were halted by a sudden cry from behind them. Without a second thought, they whipped around and drew their wands simultaneously. Dobby leapt in front of them with his hands out and glowing with magic.

The reason of the cry became apparent. Two people were running out of an alley. Ron recognized them and shouted, "Luna, Neville, over here!"

Suddenly what caused them to run became apparent. Five trolls appeared with necklaces on their necks. "Portkeys," Harry thought.

"Hermione, get to the nearest fireplace and call for backup. Ginny, Aranea, Neville, Luna round up the people and get them to Gringotts. Alert the goblins to be ready for an attack. Ron, Dobby, provide cover fire for me. I have a feeling that there are more of Voldemort's forces on the way."

"This is getting old," Ron muttered.

"What are you going to do, Harry?" Ginny shouted over the sudden chaos around them.

"Take out a few more of Voldemort's troops. Go!" Harry said.

He ran to the trolls with Dobby at his side and Ron behind them.

At once, the trolls began swinging their clubs. Several stores were smashed to pieces by the trolls wild swings. Harry Ron and Dobby ran and slid under the lead trolls legs and into the midst of them. The trolls tried to hit them, but instead, they hit each other. Soon the trolls began fighting. Harry and Ron ran to the side with Dobby behind them. After a few well-placed curses the trolls fell. Three were dead from being clubbed. The remaining two were knocked out. Harry looked around breathing heavily. He turned to his friends and said, "Eventful day huh?"

Ron and Dobby nodded. They were just about to head to Gringotts when over thirty aurors and order members arrived. Dumbledore was among them. They took one look at the dead and unconscious trolls and shuddered. Dumbledore walked over.

"Well Harry. It looks like you saved Diagon Alley," he chuckled, "First a muggle park, then the Leaky Cauldron, and now Diagon Alley. Impressive."

Harry sighed, "Yeah and I hate it. Why is Voldemort sending so many of his troops to Diagon Alley's area?"

Dumbledore sighed sadly, "Gringotts. If they take over the bank, we will be severely crippled financially and the wizard community will become even more scared. Plus he would have a huge base of operation. It is said he has a huge island somewhere that he uses as his base, but we have never discovered the location."

"Snape doesn't know where it is?" Ron asked.

"Voldemort has almost every hiding and deceptive spell imaginable on it. It is impossible for anybody without the Dark Mark to get there. That is one of the reason he has every single one of his soldiers wear the dark mark no matter what species it is. It is sort of an entrance card to a gate," said Snape who just arrived.

Snape looked at Dumbledore, "More forces are coming to attack soon. Mostly death eaters but Voldemort mentioned something about his secret weapon coming too.

"How many?" Harry said.

"A lot," Snape said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "I must leave. Voldemort will suspect me if I am seen. Good luck with the battle. Especially against the manticore." With that he vanished under an invisibility cloak.

Harry ground his teeth, "A manitcore? Damn."

Then, the pops of apparation rang through the air and out of the alley came rank after rank of Death Eaters. Harry, his friends, and the Order bolted to Gringotts and built a small semicircle around the building's entrance. Harry and his friends were pushed to the side of the steps ordered to stay behind them. Ginny and Hermione ran to call as many of the Order and aurors as possible with the Gringott's fire.

Harry was about to protest them pushing out of the fighter's ranks when he saw the size of the Death Eater army. Over 200 Death Eaters stood there silently watching the Order members. Dumbledore held up his wand and cried, "Leave you fools. Return to your master if you would like to live. Then, one of the Death Eaters strode forward. Harry and Neville gasped in shock. It was Bellatrix's voice that they heard.

"You foolish old man! Do you really think that you can standup against us? We outnumber you by over 170 soldiers."

Harry and Neville looked at each other and they nodded to each other. They signaled the others to stay and get help. Already, the goblins were arriving from within the bank's vast insides and preparing for battle. Still they were far too outnumbered. Harry and Neville crawled under Harry's invisibility cloak and sneaked through the door and passed the pathetic blockade of goblins and wizards. Without another word they drew their wands and threw off the cloak. Together they shouted, "Diffindo!"

Bellatrix was not prepared. She just looked in shock as the cutting spells hit her and sliced her through the neck and legs. She gave a last gurgle and fell dead.

The Death Eater's gasped and some moaned in horror at what just happened. Then they shouted out and the battle began. Neville and Harry hastily grabbed the cloak and ran back to Gringotts. When they arrived, they were shocked. Dobby stood there with over 100 house elves. The Hogwarts elves were there waiting for orders. Harry turned to Dobby. "Let's show those bastards that nobody can defeat the forces of light!"

The elves ran through the doors. Over twenty more wizards followed including many of the shop owners that ran to Gringotts for shelter when the trolls attacked and new arrivals from the ministry. Harry, Neville, Ron, and Dobby ran to the side of the battle while the girls gave them cover fire from behind. Meanwhile, the Death Eaters were fighting savagely. Then, they all heard a bellow and there came a manticore. It was a huge brute with a human head and a scorpion tail. It grinned and charged the defenders.

Dumbledore ordered a retreat into Gringotts. He looked, for the first time in his life, scared. Harry watched all this as he fought. He needed an advantage. Manticore's hides were nearly impenetrable with magic. Then, he saw it. The quidditch store. He ran to it with his friends behind. Fortunately, they all weren't hurt yet. When Harry reached the store, he smashed a window with magic and climbed inside. He returned with five broomsticks. He shouted over the manticure's roars, "Mount up and follow me. He swung his leg over the broom, but before he pushed off, he grabbed a large knife from the body of a goblin. Together they kicked off except Neville and Luna who stayed with Dobby and continued to fight on the ground.

Hermione was not too good at flying, but she knew enough to dodge answering spells from the Death Eaters as she and Aranea fired exploding hexes at the Death Eaters. Meanwhile Ginny and Ron began to distract the manticore. Then, Ginny was hit with a purple colored spell. She began to fall. Ron zoomed down after her. The Death Eaters were getting ready to fire at him when Aranea pushed forward and smashed into the Death Eaters ranks. Turmoil ensued in the ranks as Aranea sped upward to Ginny and together with Ron grabbed Ginny and flew to a window of the wizard bank. Before she began to smash it, it opened, and Lupin grabbed Ginny and hauled her in.

Harry was oblivious to all that was going on. Skillfully, Harry reached the manticore's neck dodging spells along the way. He landed on it, and he drove the knife he held into the monster's neck. Then he drew his wand and shot a fire charm into the wound.

The manticore screeched and the massive beast fell backwards crushing any Death Eater unlucky enough to be behind it. Harry jumped back on the broom and met up with Hermione just as the surviving Death Eaters removed anti-apparation wards they had made and apparated away. Harry and Hermione landed wearily. All the magic they had used really wiped them out. They skirted around the dead manticore and reached Aranea, Ron, Dobby, Neville, and Luna. Together they all went into Gringotts. The survivors were gaping at them all. Even Dumbledore seemed surprised though he hid it better (at least he didn't have a hanging mouth).

Just then, Harry's scar exploded with pain. He screamed as he fell on the ground holding his scar. He began to twitch and soon he was jerking into various positions. Everybody was looking in fear as Harry's friends and Dumbledore knelt around him trying to keep him from hurting himself.

Then, Harry suddenly stopped. His eyes rolled over and he began speak, " You won't control me Voldemort. Not now. Not ever."

Then, his eyes began to glow. Everybody looked terrified as the fire in his eyes grew even fiercer. Then suddenly, the eyes cleared and turned cold. He had a look of deep concentration on his face. After two minutes, it passed. He stood up and looked around. Everybody was looking at him with both terrified and worried looks. Harry stood up and walked to Dumbledore.

"What is it Harry?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Harry looked at him and said, "The tide has turned."

Dumbledore looked gravely at Harry and asked, "Harry, what do you mean?"

"I saw Voldemort's stronghold through his eyes. It is enormous." Harry said, "He has an army on it. A huge army."

"How many would you estimate?" Kingsley asked.

Harry looked up. He could feel the fear and anticipation growing through out the bank entrance. "At least 8000 soldiers were visible from where Voldmort was. Plus there were caves and dugout trenches. If there were more under the ground, I would say he is at least 10,000 dark wizards and creatures on his side. They were all working. They were digging, training, and preparing."

"Preparing for what?" Luna asked.

"All-out war."

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I hope you liked it! Please **review**! It makes me want to continue!


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Doesn't the disclaimer definition say it all?

AU: Sorry for not updating for so long. That vacation I took really shook up my fanfiction vibe. Anyways, enjoy!

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On Harry's birthday, he woke up very early and created a small image of himself under the covers with a few pillows. Ron didn't even move. Harry sniggered as he walked down the stairs. "This is going to be fun," he thought to himself. Nobody was awake yet. The kitchen was deserted. Harry chuckled again. He walked quickly and quietly to the living room and hid behind the couch. After a while he the quiet patter of many foot steps. Then, the twins and Bill popped out of the fire. Fleur and Angelina, Fred and Bill's girlfriends appeared too. Harry drew further behind the couch as they walked past. Then, he slowly and noiselessly followed behind them. The entire Weasley family (except Percy and Charlie) and a few Order along with Neville and Luna were staring at the stairs. Harry walked up and crouched behind the table. Moody was there, but apparently he was using both eyes to watch the stairs. He waited a few minutes and Moody said, "Where is that boy?"

"Probably still sleeping," Ginny giggled.

Harry drew his wand and stood up behind Moody. Then, he stuck his wand behind Moody's neck and said, "Constant Vigilance, Moody."

Everybody jumped about three feet in the air except for Moody. He chuckled happily, "I see you have improved in stealth. I tell you, you would make a great auror."

Harry looked at everybody's shocked faces. Then, he couldn't take it anymore. He laughed. When he was done, he turned back to the family. "Well?"

As one, everybody sang happy birthday. Then, Mrs. Weasley presented him with a huge cake. They all had a good time eating and laughing at Harry and his joke. When they had eaten all the cake they could eat (not much was left), they passed Harry present after present. Harry received a replacement broom (firebolt 100) from Remus, which surprised him. He asked where he got the money but Remus smiled and said, "Soon you will find out." Harry didn't press the subject. Ron and Hermione got him books on DADA. Fred and George (with a disapproving look from Mrs. Weasley) gave him two enormous boxes full of their latest joke products complete with over 15 parchments worth of instructions, tips, and ideas to how to get it to work.

All together, he got over twenty gifts, but there was one left. It was large and tightly wrapped. There was a letter with it. He tore it open and read it slowly:

This package contains something that will help you on your quest. But be careful using it. It is very rare and very dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. Do not tell anybody except your close friends I gave you this. During the school year come to me sometime and I will help you learn how to use it.

Draco Malfloy.

Harry gaped at the letter. Then, before anybody asked to see it, he drew his wand and used a fire charm to burn it.

"Why did you do that?" Mr. Weasley asked.

Harry replied, "Because it is secret who gave this to me." He gave Ron and Hermione a look that clearly said, "Meet me later."

When nobody protested his burning of the letter, he opened the present. Inside, there lay a sword. It was complete with belt and holder. Harry picked it up and with great care, pulled out the blade. Everybody backed away with shocked and scared faces, but Harry gave no notice to it. He was too busy feeling the blade. It was light and perfectly shaped for his hand as if it were made for him. The balance was flawless. When Harry touched the sword's hand piece, he felt a strange warm feeling flow through him. It was like holding his wand for the first time. He lowered it slowly and placed it back in the holder.

"Who sent that to you, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Someone who I thought would forever be my enemy," Harry muttered.

"Who?" Mrs. Weasley repeated.

"I can't reveal their identity yet," Harry said firmly.

She sighed but didn't say anything. Then, everybody rose, congratulated Harry, and left to do their duties and jobs. They left the kids in the living room. Aranea, Neville, Luna, and Ginny were about to leave because they thought that the Golden Trio wanted to have a personal meeting, but Harry stopped them. He said, "You have proven yourself to be loyal and trustworthy. You are welcomed to join us in our plans and meetings."

They all grinned and sat back down. Harry explained the note and brought the new members up to date with what the prophecy said.

"So you actually have to kill him?" Neville said in awe.

"Yeah, and I ain't happy about it." Harry muttered.

"Well, what can we do to help Harry?" asked Luna. She seemed to have lost her dreamy voice and now spoke like a real human. Harry thought that it had to do with Neville. They were getting rather close this summer.

Harry looked up sadly and replied, "You guys have to keep the Death Eaters away."

"How can we do that, Harry? I thought we heard you say that Voldemort's army is over 10,000 strong if your vision is real," Ginny asked.

"We have to plan what to do," Ron said, "We need to sort out all these problems and organize them into an appropriate manner."

Again, they stared in shock at what Ron had just said. Hermione especially was surprised. She had always liked Ron, even when she didn't show it. Now he was maturing at an incredible rate! _What's next?_ she thought.

Harry broke the silence, "Ron, you are absolutely right. We have to plan. We are outnumbered and less skilled than Voldemort's forces. I saw what his forces were doing. They were training and building and preparing."

"What about the DA?" Hermione asked.

"What's the DA?" Aranea asked.

"A secret defense group that we created last year," Luna replied.

"Can I join?" Aranea asked.

Harry replied, "Any student loyal to the cause of defeating Voldemort is welcomed to the DA with open arms. It doesn't matter what house your in, or what your skills are."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Harry cleared his throat and said, "Back to the topic. The DA will be a valuable tool in fighting Voldemort, but we have only a small amount of members. We need all the students of Hogwarts to join and train if we can even begin to fight Voldemort. There are over 280 students in the school. That is a tiny number compared to the army Voldemort has. Plus, they are just kids. Not soldiers. We need real wizards to fight this battle."

"The Order and Ministry are also few in number. My guess is that we have about a couple hundred more adult wizards ready to fight," said Ron.

"That is only about five hundred fighters!" Hermione cried.

"Exactly." Harry muttered, "There are many more wizards in England. If we could just convince them to stop hiding in corners when Death Eaters arrive, we might have a chance."

"What about wizard's from different countries?" Aranea asked, "Maybe we can ask for reinforcements from Durmstrang and Beauxbaton."

"That is actually a good idea," Harry said, "Hermione, can you call Victor and ask him if he could persuade the Headmaster to prepare Durmstrang for war?"

With a look at Ron, who was looking away, Hermione said sadly, "I can write, but he is not a student anymore. He graduated two years ago. Maybe he can try to convince the Head, but I can't promise much."

"And Fleur is here in England with Bill, so we have no contacts from Beauxbaton," Ginny said.

"But Madame Maxime is friends with Hagrid and Dumbledore. Maybe they could convince her to prepare the school. After all, no place is safe from Voldemort anymore." Neville said.

Harry looked up, "I have noticed you guys are saying Voldemort's name without hesitation."

His friends, particularly Ron, grinned with pride, "We have learned from you and Hermione that fear of a name only creates fear of the thing itself." Luna said. The others nodded.

"Back to subject. If we get foreign aid, we have a much better chance because the Aurors and ministries won't be in such chaos as England's ministry."

Then, Harry leapt to his feet and shouted, "Dobby!"

At once, there was a crack and Dobby stood there grinning, "What would Master like?"

Harry laughed, "Call me Harry if you are able too, Dobby. At the battle at Gringotts, you rounded up Hogwart's house elves to fight. How many are left?"

Dobby's ears drooped sadly, "Ah Harry. We house elves fought bravely but twenty-three were killed or injured in the fight. Still, the house elves are loyal to Dumbledore and you too Harry. There are at least ninety left ready to fight for you"

Harry turned to his friends, "I think we are on to something here."

"Yeah Harry. If we enlist the help of anybody or anything loyal and ready to fight, we will soon be a powerful fighting force!" Luna said.

"Well, we need to start now and build up our forces as soon as possible. I have a feeling that this year will be a crucial time of the war." Neville said with a brave look on his face.

Harry smiled at his friend. Neville had grown and matured physically, mentally, and magically. Indeed, Harry trusted Neville with his life. He knew that since Bellatrix's death, Neville had come out of a shell of fear and was ready to fight. Harry snapped back to reality and turned to Dobby, "Stay at Hogwarts, but find as many free house elves and elves enslaved to good families and try to get them and their masters to fight. We need as many as we can get."

Yes, Harry Potter, sir, Winky will help with convince the enslaved elves and their masters. I will talk to free elves," with a crack, Dobby was gone.

Harry began to lay out the plans they had made, "Hermione, write to Victor. Ron, call Hagrid. I'll find Dumbldore and include him in our plans. Neville, I need you to research and buy as many spell books that contain offensive and defensive magic. I'll provide the money. Luna, Ginny, you guys need to call as many wizard magazines and newspapers and try to get as many as you can to write stories about Voldemort. Warnings, defense spells, and especially encouragement to stand and fight this war should be written. If you need to, write them yourselves. Hermione can help you. Aranea, I know that this is going to be hard, but I need you to talk with the Slytherins when you reach Hogwarts. Draco might help you. He is the one who sent me the sword."

"Draco gave you the sword?" Ron asked with a stunned and suspicious look on his face.

"Yeah, That is something else I need to do. Figure out this sword and its properties." Harry said.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Ginny asked.

"I'll take it to Dumbledore and let him decide." Harry responded.

As one, they rose and separated to do their tasks. Ron turned and whispered, "You are a born leader Harry. Without you, we would already be dead. Thank you." Then, he turned and walked to his room to get his owl, Pig.

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PLEASE REVIEW!!


	13. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Here Harry

Disclaimer: Here Harry! Here Potter! Stupid books. Can't even find them let alone own them…

Throughout the rest of the summer holidays, Harry and his friends worked, planned, and negotiated. Dumbledore was especially pleased with the way the eight children were working together, and he and the Order were doing all they could to help. The ministry was still in chaos according to the members of the Order who worked there. Fudge was on the verge of being fired. Umbridge had gone to jail for various charges that she committed the year before. Harry was especially pleased.

Then one day, Mr. Weasley flooed to the Burrow and told Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to come with him. Harry asked, "What's going on?"

"It is time for you to receive your share of Sirius's will." Mr. Weasley replied.

Harry's face suddenly fell and he began to mutter things inaudible. Then, he looked up and said in a quiet, sad voice, "Let's go."

Harry turned to his friends and said, "You can come too. I bet he will give something to you."

Everybody except Aranea headed to the fireplace. She finally agreed to come too after Harry asked her. When they flooed to the ministry, they were greeted by ministry security. They were run through with dark detectors, and their wands were checked. They even had to raise their sleeves, so the aurors could check if they had the dark mark. When they were finally accepted, they headed to the elevator and reached the area in which the will was to be read. Along the way, Harry learned that Sirius was found innocent and that Wormtail was now guilty for all the charges that Sirius was accused of doing.

When they arrived, there were many people already in the room. Mostly adults with a few kids. (including Neville and Luna). Harry sat down and willed himself not to cry. He had been bottling up grief, guilt, and fear for nearly the entire summer. He was on the verge of a break-down. Finally, a man entered with a long paper in front of him. (A.N. I hate writing law talk. Particularly stuff that have to do with dead people. I am making it sound like the common version of the human language. Not law talk.)

The man sat down and began to read the will:

If you are reading this, I am probably dead. Darn, I liked living. Anyway, a will is supposed to describe the wishes of the dead guy. That dead guy being me in this case. So let's begin. To Fred and George. I give you several areas of land and 13000 Galleons to expand your joke shop. Make me proud. Remus, I have already given you 5000 galleons to spend as you see fit. To the rest of the Weasleys. I give you each 2000 galleons. Make good use of it. Neville. I remember your parents. They were good people. That is how I know you will be a good person. I know from Harry that you are a great Herbologist. I give you the entire section of the Grimmauld library that has to do with Herbology Study well. Luna. Ginny has told me much about you. She considers you a good friend. I always had a soft spot for Ginny because she was so much like Lily. You get 300 galleons and several designated items that you will hopefully enjoy. Hermione. I think you deserve to have any of the remaining books that are in the library after Neville gets his share. Dumbledore gets the rest. Please be nice and give him at least a few books. Ron. I personally thought you to be a fine young man. Harry is lucky to have a friend like you. Keep an eye on him. You get my Quidditch equipment and several antique broomsticks. Ron and Hermione… Ah what a treat it is to watch you too bicker constantly like an old married couple. Reminds me of James and Lily somewhat. They loved to bicker. Only they weren't friends. How you two remain friends is beyond my comprehension. I give you 1000 galleons each and a few items that I will leave with Harry for now. He'll know what to do with them. And finally, Harry. You get everything else. The house. The remaining money. Everything. I am sorry to not be here to help you with the upcoming war. Good luck to all of you. Make me and your parents proud Harry!

Harry couldn't take it anymore. He had been bottling this up for almost the entire summer. He grieved. He felt tears falling down his face. He began to sob. He knew people were looking at him, but he didn't care. He then felt arms around him. They hugged him tightly. After what felt like hours, his crying ceased. He raised his head to see Aranea face looking down at him with concern. He suddenly felt like a great weight was off his shoulders. He realized that he had made a mistake bottling up his feelings over Sirius's death. He had felt a great weight of sorrow on him all summer. He realized that he had been carrying grief for months. He was finally free.

Harry blinked and came back to the real world. Aranea was still holding him, but more loosely. Without thinking, Harry stood up. He hugged Aranea back while thanking her over and over again. Nearly everybody was smiling. Except Ginny. While she heeded Hermione's advice, she still had a great deal of feelings for Harry. She just refused to reveal it.

After a few minutes Harry and Aranea pulled apart. They looked around and both blushed until they were red enough to make Ron proud. Then, Dumbledore, who was beaming, stood up and announced that the meeting was over.

Harry immediately left with his friends behind him. Dumbledore said the stuff given to the kids (besides the money, which was in Gringotts) were in Grimmauld Place on the kitchen table.

When they arrived by floo, they went to the kitchen. On the table were lots of packages and boxes with labels designating who they belong to. Luna received several books on mythical creatures and some strange gadgets that Luna became very excited about. She said that they would prevent people from taking her stuff though she didn't go into how. Neville left to go to the library after finding a large empty box that would hold all his books. Hermione went with him. Ron loved all his new equipment and brooms. Then they saw the box of stuff that Harry was supposed to take care of for Ron and Hermione. Before Ron could take it, Harry hoisted it onto his shoulder with a grunt. Ron was about to protest, but he realized that it would be another pointless fight. He got too many of those with Hermione. He shrugged his shoulders and went with Luna to the library. Harry, after shrinking the box and putting it in his pocket, followed with Ginny and Aranea.

The library was a total mess. Literally. Apparently, Hermione was trying to cram as many books as possible into her trunk. And it wasn't going well. There were discarded books everywhere. Neville had already gotten all his books and was watching on with amusement. Ginny was staring in shock. Hermione was always the orderly one. Luna was on a chair meditating. Something she liked to do every day. Harry and his friends learned that was why she always looked so dreamy. Harry and Ron (who was rolling his eyes and looking disgusted) knelt down to try to calm Hermione down. She was so excited to have a full library to choose books from. Aranea began to pick up the books and cleaning up.

After about twenty minutes Hermione agreed to bring only fifteen of the books with her to Hogwarts. They picked up the rest of the books and were just finishing when Dumbledore walked in. He smiled and said, "Miss. Granger, I hope you saved me a few of the books."

"Yes sir," Hermione said.

"Good. Now, to the reason why I am here. Harry should come with me to Gringotts to discuss his inheritance from Sirius. Come along Harry," Dumbledore said.

"I'll be back guys." Harry said.

With that he left with Dumbledore. They decided to walk there so they could discuss the war plans. Harry began, "Professor, do you know where Voldemort's stronghold is yet?"

"I am afraid not Harry,"

"Any leads at all?" Harry said desperately.

"No, but the dementor attacks are getting worse and worse. The ministry is figuring out a way to stop the dementors from growing in number. Also, they are trying to kill them. But it seems impossible."

"What about any other attacks?" Harry asked.

"There are several Death Eater attacks ever week but they are mostly small since the Gringott's incident," Dumbledore replied.

"Dumbledore, how long do you think it would take to raise an army with enough strength to bring the war to Voldemort?"

"It all depends on certain factors. Who is going to fight? What supplies will we need? Can we get these supplies? When will the next major battle erupt and if so in what areas? The list goes on continuously."

"Are any of Ginny and Luna's articles doing anything?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, there has been a major increase in the number of people signing up for auror training and joining the Order. Still, we are far outnumbered."

Harry then asked Dumbledore about the sword. "Malfloy gave me a sword. He said that it is very rare and dangerous. He also promised to teach me how to use it. Do you think I can show it to you later? I am a little worried to because it IS from Malfloy."

"Of course, Harry. I can realize you are wary. That is a good sign. Moody would be proud of you." Dumbldore said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Harry laughed but then said seriously, "What about the students?"

"Ah, Harry, I am very reluctant to start a war with the students wrapped up in it. Defense is fine but attacking on the offense is something else." Dumbledore said gravely.

At this time, they reached the Leaky Cauldron. They walked in and headed straight to the entrance. They then proceeded to Gringotts. When they arrived, Harry stared in shock. Goblins, over 200 of them, were standing guard and looking suspiciously around at the customers. Harry remembered vaguely the wars between goblins and wizards. Goblins were smart, could work magic (though it was a little weaker than wizards), and were skilled at stealth and hand-to-hand combat. Harry had an idea forming in his head. He was just hoping it might work. They reached a goblin that wasn't helping or checking somebody (it took a while). The goblin, Frum, led them to a cart and they speeded toward Harry's new vault. When they arrived, Frum took a key from his pocket, opened the vault, and gave the key to Harry. The vault was now his.

Harry walked through the door and his jaw dropped. Inside was a pile of Galleons so big that Harry could barely see the top. "At least I have the money to buy all those books I asked Neville to buy," he thought. Then, he walked past the heap of gold and looked in the back. There was a bunch of other stuff. Including thirty shelves filled with books. Potions of various sorts and a bunch of jewelry were present as well. As he looked closer he saw ten wands on a table as well. He noticed a note next to them. He took a look at the note before touching the wands.

Harry, these are rowan wood wands. They are very powerful and rare because they do not need a core but must be made carefully and with great magical skill. There are ten wands here. Give them to those you trust. I feel that you will need them in the upcoming war. Sirius

Harry turned and saw that Dumbledore and the goblin had not followed him. He continued searching and found a list of the potions that were in the vault. It proved that these potions would be very helpful in his upcoming struggle. Many were healing and protection potion and even a couple gave more power to the drinker when it comes to magic and physical ability.

He also found a pair of glasses exactly the same as the ones that Aranea's dad had. He grabbed and stuck them in his pocket. He would ask her later how they worked. As he realized that he couldn't keep all these potion and equipment in his present trunk, he began looking for anything that he could put them in. Luckily, he found a huge trunk. As he lifted it, he noticed that it was incredibly light. It had ten compartments along with a ring of keys. He opened the compartments one by one and found that each one held a room much like the seventh compartment of Moody's trunk. Respectively, they held an empty library, a training area that looked like a basketball stadium, two huge bedrooms, a bathroom, a study room similar to the Transfiguration classroom complete with desks and chairs, a small kitchen, an enormous storage room with lots of empty boxes, a potion making dungeon-like room, and a relaxation room complete with lots of comfy couches.

Harry turned and saw that Dumbledore was behind him. Dumbledore smiled and said, " I have some matters to deal with in another vault. Pack up anything you want or need in that trunk and meet out there in an hour." With that, he left.

Harry grinned and got started. He had a lot of fun going through everything. In one hour, he had everything packed and shelved everything in the vault that he needed. He was about to leave when he remembered the rowan wands. He grabbed them and carefully put them in a safe he found in the library. Then, he left. Three minutes later, Dumbledore arrived with Frum and together they rode up the rail back to Gringott's bank. When they reached the entrance room, Harry remembered his idea and said, "Frum, is there any way I can talk to the lead goblin?"

Frum looked startled and replied, "Mr. Potter, Trigold rarely speaks to humans."

"Can you try?" Harry pleaded.

"I will see what I can do."

Frum then left. Dumbledore turned to Harry and said, "Harry, I think I know why your doing this, but I doubt it will work."

"We shall see," Harry replied.

At that moment, Frum showed up again with another goblin behind him. A hush fell over the room. Harry walked up to the goblin and bowed. The goblin was old, very old. Still, his eyes were full of light and there was a feeling of power around him. The goblin, to everyone's surprise, bowed also. Then, he spoke is a deep voice, "Young Mr. Potter, I hear you wish to speak with me?"

"Yes Trigold. I would like to discuss the war with you. Can we talk somewhere private?"

"Yes, Mr. Potter, we can use my office." Trigold replied. Then, he began to walk away. Harry followed, but Dumbledore stayed outside with a flash of sudden hope in his eyes.

When Harry and the elderly goblin arrived in the office, they sat down. Trigold spoke first, "What of the war do you wish to discuss?"

"Your side on the war."

The goblin spoke slowly, "Mr. Potter, we goblins never take sides on wizard wars unless forced to. You do realize that Voldemort attacked our bank. We will never join someone who attacks us."

"So you are neutral?" Harry asked.

"No, we are not in this war. We may look neutral, but we are preparing before declaring it outright that we support the light side." Trigold said.

"If you do fight, how large is your force?"

The goblin grinned, "We remembered that you said that Voldemort has over 10,000 soldiers. If the goblins all agree, we will have about 1000 goblins ready to fight. We will not let the Dark Lord attack our bank and go unpunished."

Harry nodded. Then, they both rose and left together. When they met with Dumbledore, Trigold bid them farewell, and they left. It was getting dark when they arrived back at Grimmauld Place. Harry immediately went straight to the drawing room.

His friends were all there talking. They fell silent as Harry walked in with his new trunk. Before they could ask, Harry told them everything. Then they took a look in the trunk. Hermione became even more jealous when she saw the library, which had more books in it than she currently did. Neville got excited about the potion's room and asked permission to use it to practice potion making. Harry agreed knowing that Neville needed the practice. Ron and Ginny liked the training area a lot. Luna didn't say much, but she did ask to put some of her stuff in the storage compartment. After admiring everything, they sat and continued to discuss the war. It was all they talked about these days, and Harry was starting to feel guilty. Of course, it was their choice, but he felt that it was his fault they were in this situation.

After a while, his mind began to drift. He thought about nothing imparticular. Just his life and the problems that he had to face. He was knocked back to reality when he felt a rap on his head. His friends were all staring at him. He smiled sheepishly.


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

August rolled by quickly, as Harry and his friends were negotiating with Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's headmasters. They requested that each one attempted to create a defense group within the student population. They had agreed and would remain on alert for any attacks in or around their countries. Dobby and Winky were making great progress on gathering house elves and wizards to the cause. The goblins were training and reorganizing their spy network for the upcoming war. However, most of the wizard population remained in fear of Voldemort. Ginny's and Luna's articles were helping somewhat but not as much as Harry hoped. The ministry wasn't helping much. They had a decent number of auror recruits but they were untrained and poorly led. Also, they were stretched too thin. Ministries from other countries refused to help Britain. They were on their own.

Harry woke early again. Ron was still asleep (as usual). He looked at a calendar posted on Ron's orange walls. They were leaving for Hogwarts in three days. Harry was already packed with his new trunk. He let his friends share his storage area and the library.

Neville and Luna were staying together at Neville's house. They all knew something was up between them. They weren't sure but Harry was ready to bet 20 galleons that they were going out. He was very pleased. Neville deserved a good girlfriend. Even if she was a bit odd.

Ron and Hermione were being as dense as always. Even Aranea could tell they liked each other. Harry shook his head and went downstairs. Aranea was already there. She was enjoying a cup of coffee as she usually did at this time in the morning. Harry sat next to her, and she passed him some coffee. They enjoyed talking and joking during their coffee break. They commonly did this. This morning, they talked about what Aranea could do when it came to the Slytherins. There had been no further contact from Draco since Harry's birthday.

Aranea was terrified of going back to Hogwarts and staying with the Slytherins. Harry was worried too. It was no secret that she was friends with Harry. That was enough to get hexed every day by at least ten Slytherins. They took their worry over to Dumbledore. He agreed that Aranea was probably not safe being alone in the Slytherin common room. He said that he would think about what to do. He also encouraged that Harry and his friends teach her all they knew about DADA. The only problem was that they would have to request that ministry give them permission slips to accomplish most of the powerful spells. The only reason she was able to perform magic was because she only did it in dangerous situations. Fudge was still being an idiot with Harry. Even though he allowed Harry to perform magic, he wanted to get Harry in trouble, and Harry was not about to let Fudge have the satisfaction. He knew that Fudge was just angry because Harry had been right, and now his power in the ministry was tottering on a loose thread. However, Harry was determined to get his friends magic-permitting licenses from the ministry.

After everybody was up, Harry requested that his friends floo to the ministry to get magic licenses. He knew that they could perform magic in three days, but he felt that they needed the licenses early and that way, they wouldn't have to worry about using magic next summer.

Mrs. Weasley was finally convinced to let them go when Mr. Weasley took them when he went to work. After breakfast, Harry wrote a letter to Neville and Luna to meet them at the ministry. It wouldn't take long to get there because Neville lived only a few miles away. Harry and friends then flooed to the ministry. When they got there, they headed to the front desks and were checked again by dark detectors. They resembled little detectors used in Muggle security. Harry got a little annoyed with the young security wizards. They were just too careless with their checking. "They must think you wave the stupid thing and it beeps," he thought.

Just as they were finishing, three more wizards entered and stood waiting to be checked. Harry looked closely at them. He couldn't place it, but he had a bad feeling about these wizards. He noticed too that they were watching him closely. He stared right back. Then, he suddenly turned and asked if he could learn to test them. The security wizard shrugged his shoulders and gave him the detector. He walked to the wizards and slowly and carefully ran them through. After fifteen seconds the detector began beeping like crazy. Then, a picture of a Dark Mark appeared on the detectors screen. Harry immediately drew his wand and pointed it at the men. His friends and all the security wizards in the atrium did as well. They looked nervously around as if fearing that more Death Eaters were nearby. Suddenly, they heard a loud booming noise outside the atrium. Harry groaned. These Death Eaters were an advanced attack just like the trolls in Diagon Alley. Pick off as many wizards in the ministry as possible; then, the rest of them march in and overwhelm the weakened defenses. Harry heard screams and the door boomed again. Harry quickly cast the strongest locking charm he knew on the door. He then knocked out the three Death Eater and tied them up. Mr. Weasley was shouting at Harry to come with him. Harry took one last look at the door before running with everybody into the ministry. They only had gone ten yards when they heard at least twenty voices scream in unison, " Diffindo!" and the door exploded into pieces of splintered wood.

There were only thirty Death Eaters, but he saw over fifty inferi behind them. Harry had only ever read of the inferi. The dead bodies were walking slowly across the atrium. Harry heard the fires erupt and Luna and Neville crawled out. They were immediately surrounded by Death Eaters. Neville pulled Luna behind him and drew his wand. Harry

snarled and turned around. He ran to the Death Eaters. Ron immediately followed. Together they smashed like football players into the inferi and Death Eaters. They shot spells left and right. Harry fought viciously. Ron was fighting to reach Neville who had thrown a shield charm over himself. Then, quite suddenly, Ron was hit in the back with a purple light and fell to the ground just as he reached Neville.

Harry fought on as Neville managed to shield Ron, but Neville's shield was weakening quickly. Harry was stuck facing a wall of inferi with the remaining Death Eaters standing behind them with wands out.

Harry remembered that inferi could not die easily. The best way is the physically kill them. Spells were of little use except fire. Harry suddenly grinned evilly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the shrunken sword that Malfloy had given him. He quickly resized it as the enemy inferi began walking slowly to the entrance of the ministry. Neville and Luna were still trying to hold off five Death Eaters continuously firing spells at the shield.

Harry drew the long sword out of its sheath. For some reason, it felt perfectly natural in his hands. He lifted it and charged. The girls charged with him firing spells and shouting that they would watch his back. Ginny turned to the side and fired an exploding hex at the five Death Eaters just as the shield collapsed. Then, she and Mr. Weasley lifted and carried Neville and Ron and Luna, who were all unconscious, away from the battle. The security wizards had left to get auror aid.

Harry meanwhile had reached the ranks of the inferi. They were tightly packed because of the lack of room in the atrium. With all his strength, he swung his sword. Two inferi fell headless. Harry hacked and slashed his way through the inferi. Hermione and Aranea followed firing spells at any incoming Death Eaters. Harry skillfully ran an inferi through the heart with his blade. The inferi were falling fast and the Death Eaters were almost finished. Finally, aurors arrived and the remaining Death Eaters apparated away. The last inferi were immediately cut down with diffindo spells.

Harry sighed. Why did all the attacks have to happen when he was in the area? This was really starting to annoy him. The aurors immediately took charge and looked for wounded and killed. All the inferi were on the ground dead. There were five dead Death Eaters as well. Harry growled in disgust. He lifted his sword. It was covered in the black blood of the inferi. Harry shuddered.

Hermione ran up, "Harry, if you EVER bolt off like that again alone, I will personally kill you!"

"You welcome," Harry said. Then they headed to where Neville, and Luna were lying. Ginny and Aranea were already there. Harry looked at Ron. He was rather pale but had woken up. Neville just looked like he was sleeping out of weariness and not pain. Luna looked the same.

Suddenly, there was a sharp tap on Harry's shoulder. He turned to see Fudge bearing over him. He sneered, "I see you have saved the day again Mr. Potter. Still, you are going to have a hearing for murder." He said this with a look of triumph on his face.

Harry rose slowly. He stared at the minister. The minister stared right back before calling to the aurors, "Take Mr. Potter into custody."

Reluctantly, three aurors walked up to Harry and drew their wands. Harry just continued to stare. Suddenly, his eyes glowed again, but this time they were changing color. They began to turn red. Blood red. Deep and menacing. The aurors were terrified and even Fudge stepped back. Harry suddenly shouted, "JAHVA FICK TESOGEBA. ROBBA TEAPER BENDERAS!!"

Fudge was lifted off the ground and suddenly began to scream. He was twitching violently. The aurors ran to Harry but he lifted his hand and suddenly hissed, "Mordregar!"

All the aurors were suddenly stopped and collapsed in a heap. The minister was still twitching. Ron and Hermione ran to Harry. Harry either didn't notice or didn't care. They grabbed him and held onto him. Harry suddenly hissed in a hated voice, "Harry is mine now."

"Get out Voldemort!" came a voice.

Everybody looked up to see Dumbledore standing there with fury in his eyes. Harry turned slowly. He jerked his arms out and caught both of his friends in the chest. They collapsed gasping for breath.

Harry walked slowly to Dumbledore with his wand raised. Dumbledore raised his wand and cried, "Trekaanma Oblivium!"

Harry was struck with a yellow light and fell to the ground. He lay there for several minutes with everybody staring warily at him. Then, he rose and looked around. He remembered what happened. He had been nearly taken over by his hate and anger. Voldemort could tell and took over his mind. If Voldemort managed to repeat the process, he was a danger to everybody.

He saw his friends standing in a group. Ron and Hermione were still on the ground. He couldn't stay here. He had to leave.

With this thought, he bolted to the door. He fled through muggle London before anybody could stop him. After running several miles, he stopped to catch his breath. He was alone.


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Potter

A.N. Sorry it took so long!

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After catching his breath, Harry decided to go to Diagon Alley. If he could find it. He questioned peopleabout the location of the street it was on. Eventually, he reached it. He crept in. The place was empty. Even Tom was gone.

He sneaked in noiselessly. If he was lucky, he might be able to reach Diagon Alley unnoticed. He hoped to reach Gringotts quickly. He continued to tip-toe through the inn to the entrance of Diagon Alley. Suddenly, he heard the door open. He side stepped into a dark corner. He heard a two voices speaking.

"There's nobody here. Let's find Tom and see if Harry has checked in a room. After that, we can head to Diagon Alley and search there."

"Why did he leave though?"

"From what Dumbledore said, he let anger begin to control him and Voldemort took it as an opportunity to take over his mind."

"But he was stopped by Dumbledore."

"So? If I know Harry, he is scared to be by anybody he knows and cares about. He already hurt me and Ron."

"True, but he should know that it wasn't his fault. We are his friends and we need to help him. Anyway, he will more than likely head to his new vault and grab anything useful. After that, I don't know what he will do."

"He will probably start hunting Voldemort and his stronghold. If we don't find him before school starts…"

"Don't talk like that! We will find him. And when we do, I will slap him harder than I did in the park that the Death Eaters attacked."

Harry smiled grimly at this. It was Ginny and Hermione. Footsteps passed by him and they slowly died away. Harry sighed quietly and stood up. He slipped past a door they were in talking to Tom and made it to Diagon Alley's entrance. He opened it quickly and ran straight to Gringotts. He knew he had to make it quick. Fortunately, it was still open. He dashed inside, requested a passage, and made the goblin promise not to tell anybody he was here. He reached the vault and immediately filled his moneybags. He ran out and arrived in the atrium within ten minutes of arriving. He crept through the door and hid in a corner. Hermione and Ginny were standing in the middle of the atrium and were looking around carefully. He silently cursed. Then, he had a sudden thought. He pulled out his wand slowly and struck his own head with it. He immediately felt the broken egg on the top of his head. He snuck around them under his disillutionment spell and walked out the open door. He quickly removed the spell on him and headed to the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Then, a sudden thought struck him. Since he was here, why not take a look down knockturn alley? He might find a better book store dedicated to the Dark Arts. He argued for a while with himself until he decided to risk it. He crept past Gringotts and arrived at the entrance. He took a deep breath and walked into one of the most feared alleys in England.

He immediately reached into his pocket and kept a tight hold on his wand. There were even fewer people here than in Diagon Alley. Maybe three or four people were walking around and two were storeowners. Harry finally saw a store that looked interesting (for being in knockturn alley at least). It was called STUFF.

Harry looked at the store. "STUFF?" he wondered, "What kind of name is that?"

Still, he saw many interesting things behind the glass and decided to take a peek. After all, he had enough money to buy practically anything. So, with a little apprehension, he opened the door.

Inside, Harry saw that someone had put a huge enlargement charm in the store. It was enormous. Harry stared. "STUFF," he thought, "It fits."

Indeed it did, the huge store was full of everything imaginable. There were shelves of books, rows of potions, barrels of candy and toys, water, a small area with fresh food, and even sport equipment for quidditch and even some Muggle sports. In Harry's opinion, it looked much like a department store. It had some of everything. It was mostly magical stuff, but there were several Muggle items that were more than likely enchanted.

Harry saw nobody behind the counter, so he decided to take a look around. It was an interesting place. He was especially interested in the small section dedicated to books. Indeed, a lot of them were very old. Some looked almost like they were written in the Ancient Runes. Hermione would have been rather excited about that. She was a master translator of ancient runes.

"If I ever see her again," said Harry with a sinking heart.

He then proceeded to a counter dedicated to jewelry. They were beautiful. There were rings, bracelets, chains, necklaces, charms, earrings, and hairpins. Jewels and valuable metal sparkled everywhere. He thought about Aranea. She was just like her mother. She loved jewelry especially necklaces and rings. The only difference was that she didn't wear all of it all the time. He remembered that she loved turquoise anything. He browsed and saw a small pinky ring with a circle of turquoise in it. He made a mental note to himself to check back when he was done looking around.

He proceeded to the food department. Along the way, he saw enchanted backpacks. Harry immediately grabbed one. If he was on the move, he might as well be ready for hunting out the Death Eaters and their allies. Then he quickly grabbed a large bag and filled it hurriedly with canned food and a few fruits and candies. Harry looked closely around in the sports area for a broom. They had several Comets and Cleansweeps but nothing that really interested Harry. He would sneak into his room at the Burrow sometime soon and grab his trunk. It was already almost full with his stuff. His firebolt 100 included.

Then he reached the potions area. There were hundreds of potion and many types. He grabbed several healing and strengthening potions but also grabbed a few that were designed for animals and other useful things (such as the polyjuice potion).

Harry then proceeded to the check out. Still, there was nobody there. "Strange. If they were closed wouldn't the door be locked?" he thought as he looked around. After placing his items on the counter he decided to check the back.

There were two doors, one was locked, but the other led to a staircase. He stared up it and called softly. Utter silence. Then, with great caution and stealth, he climbed up the stairs. He knew he was being stupid and nosy but he couldn't help himself for some reason. At the top, a light shined to the left. There was a door on the side that was partially opened. Harry entered quietly. The door creaked loudly when he opened it. Still, there was silence in the room after the creaking ended. Harry was now getting really nervous. He was in what looked like a study/work room. There were files and desks and even a computer. How the computer worked was beyond Harry.

At that minute something tapped Harry on the shoulder. He whipped around and drew his wand at the same time. He was looking at an old man. He looked a little like Dumbledore. Then Harry realized who he was. There, in front of him, stood Aberforth Dumbledore.

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